I had no idea how much time had passed since the objection system had been decided on. Since then, I’d gone all over the world with my brides-to-be, taking care of all the preparations for the separate ceremonies.
The venues for each event were decided on without issue. Efil’s would be in the elven village, Sera’s would be in Grelbarelka, Mel’s would be on the Isla Heaven archipelago, Colette’s would be in Deramis, Shutola’s would be in Trycen, and Ange’s would be in Toraj. I understood most of the choices except for the last one.
Hm... Why did Ange choose Toraj? I asked myself. There must have been a reason deeper than the ocean floor—or not. Apparently, she’d decided on it for a pretty shallow reason.
“Kelvin! Why are you ignoring Toraj when you’re holding ceremonies all over the continent in Parth, Gaun, Trycen, and Deramis?!” Tsubaki had complained. “Why ignore my Toraj?! Are you teasing me? Is this some sort of suspense kink done through rumors?! Maybe you’ve finally decided to marry me and you’re just waiting until the very last moment to confess, huh?! Well? What is it, Kelvin?!”
“Uh...”
Anyway, I had no idea where she’d gotten her information on my weddings, but Tsubaki-sama had come to me with a very fierce and impassioned speech. I realized she was right when she pointed out that we were holding ceremonies all over the Eastern Continent but Toraj was absent from that list. It wasn’t intentional, but I understood that Tsubaki-sama wasn’t amused by this coincidence, even though she gave her proposal to me another half-joking shot. At any rate, we’d known each other for a long time by then, so I understood her well. That was why Ange, who’d been wondering where to have her ceremony, volunteered.
“Well, why don’t we have my ceremony in Toraj?” she’d suggested.
“What? Really?! Would you truly do that for me? Oh, no, I mean, there’s no need to force it on my account,” Tsubaki had said, flustered. “I know I’m being quite unreasonable. It was mostly an excuse for me to come play...”
“Oh no, I’m not forcing myself at all,” Ange had replied. “To tell you the truth, I was vaguely considering having my ceremony in Pub, but then it would be so far away from the Eastern Continent, it would be hard to call over all my friends from the guild. And I didn’t want to pick Parth because that would overlap with Rion’s ceremony, so I was honestly feeling kind of lost as to what to do. On that front, Toraj is right next to Parth, and choosing it would wipe away almost all my problems. It’s a great tourist spot too, with good food and being right next to the ocean and all the hot springs. It’ll be great there! Honestly, I’m surprised no one’s taken Toraj yet! Don’t you agree, Kelvin?”
“Huh? Ah, er... I, yeah, I was thinking the same thing! So that’s what she thinks about it, Tsubaki-sama. Do you have a venue you’d recommend?”
That was when Tsubaki had let out a moved squeak. “Heh! I suppose I have no choice given how passionate you are about this! I’ll roll up my sleeves and pick a great one for you!”
And so, thanks to Ange’s quick wit, it had been decided that her ceremony would be held in Toraj. Just in case, I later confirmed with her that it was what she really wanted, and she told me that it was fine since she wasn’t as set on the location as any of the others. She was even excited that her ceremony would be more unique, since Toraj had its own traditional Japanesey wedding dress, and started emphasizing how she was telling the truth about the food and the sights.
You’re such a good woman, Ange!
At any rate, having fallen in love with Ange all over again, I started putting my back into preparations for the ceremonies. My prospective wives were the ones taking the reins here, but that didn’t mean I could sit back and do nothing. I accompanied them as much as I could to serve as a sounding board and give my own opinions while also deepening my relationships with everyone who was helping out with the process. I was doing my best in my own way.
Today was no different. I had come to the elven village, where Efil was planning to have her wedding. Lalanoah, who could finally hold her own head up, was with me too. She spent most of the time in a baby sling, with me soothing her. However, it seemed she had the makings of quite the popular girl.
“Oooh! Lalanoah-chan grabbed my finger!” the elven chief said in a whisper.
“Um, yeah...”
“Father, Lalanoah-chan’s cheeks are amazing too! I can’t believe something this soft exists in the world!” said his daughter, also in a whisper.
“What?! That’s incredible! I must experience this for myself right away!” the elven chief whispered in reply.
“Uh...please be careful not to wake her...”
Right now, I was holding a soundly sleeping Lalanoah in the chief’s abode. In front of me was the head of the house, Elder Nellas, and his daughter. Since I’d walked in, they had both been entranced by Lalanoah, whom they were meeting for the first time. I was grateful that they were exercising at least some restraint by whispering, but it was extremely obvious how excited they were.
I had to say, no matter how mind-blowingly cute Lalanoah was, the elder and his daughter were too absorbed in her. I mean, I understood how they felt. Look at how pretty Lalanoah is. Her cheeks are literally the softest in the world. Heh heh.
“It’s about time you two let Lalanoah be. Look at her eyebrows.”
“Oh, my apologies! I couldn’t help myself after seeing her!” Nellas replied.
“M-Me too! Not many children are born in the village, so...” his daughter apologized.
It seemed they were set on whispering. I was grateful for their consideration, to be honest. But still, Elder Nellas aside, his daughter...Wial, I believed it was... This was my first time meeting her, though when we were defending the village, Leonhart had come disguised as her, so this whole interaction felt extremely off to me. I was pretty sure it wasn’t the case this time, but I still had to entertain the notion of Leonhart in her form, and it made things awkward.
“And now, you and Efil-san have a child and are about to get married here... I suppose I should add ‘finally’ to that? Time sure flies, doesn’t it?” Nellas commented with a chuckle.
“Aha ha...when you put it like that, it sounds like the order got reversed, didn’t it?” I said.
“Oh no, that’s not true at all. We elves live a long time, so we tend to really take our time making decisions. Unless something big happens, like having a child, it’s hard for us to commit to marriage. Even I had my daughter before getting married,” Nellas replied.
“You too, Elder Nellas?”
“Wait, really, father?!” Wial exclaimed in shock. “This is the first I’m hearing of it!”
“Ah, oh no...” Nellas muttered.
Wait. Your daughter didn’t know?!
“Ha... Ha ha ha... Erm, uh...right. Is Efil-san doing well? Is she healthy?” Nellas asked.
“That segue was way too obvious!” Wial retorted.
“Now, now...”
I was now getting the feeling that every father around me was weak with their daughters. Of course, I was included in that group.
“Heh heh! Yes, she’s doing very well. She’s working extra hard to make up for the time she took off to rest,” I answered.
“Wow, so Efil-san is a hard worker!” Wial said, impressed.
“Yep, but that’s not really a good thing. Personally, I’d like her to rest for a little longer. Or at least work a little less hard, maybe ease into the return—”
“Seeing you take care of Lalanoah is the best nourishment I could receive, master. In other words, this for me is like combat is for you,” said Efil, interrupting me.
“I-I see.”
She made her statement with the best of smiles, so I couldn’t argue.
“Father, is this what they call flirting?” Wial asked.
“Hm... I suppose it’s only a matter of time until they have a second child,” said Nellas.
Hey!